Revisiting Old Favorites

Ground Turkey Stroganoff

My tastes have changed.  I began to realize this when leafing through a collection of old recipes, looking for something different to cook. 

I stumbled on Hamburger Stroganoff, a dish I made regularly when I was first out of college.  When I read the list of ingredients, though, I began having second thoughts.  I don’t eat ground beef any more, and I stopped using canned cream of anything soup years ago.

Argentine Red Shrimp: What Are They and How Do I Cook Them?

Argentine Red Shrimp, also called crustacean shellfish, are wild caught in the Southern Atlantic and have much more flavor than the average shrimp.  They are usually sold frozen in bags, 16-to-20 per pound.  Most likely they will be raw, and their tough shells, which are red, will still be attached.

Mom Money-Saving Tip 83

If you live where lemons are plentiful only part of the year, freeze freshly squeezed lemon juice into ice cube trays.  Once the cubes have frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag and use as needed.

                        See all my Money-Saving Tips!

Yikes! Not Chicken Again!

Moroccan Chicken

Sometimes I go overboard when I see a sale on boneless chicken breasts.  When I’m loading a 4-pound package into my cart, all I can think about is “What a great bargain this is.”  Only when I’m starring at it in my refrigerator do I actually think about having to cook it and eat it.

I knew that freezing half of what I bought would solve the immediate problem, but experience has taught me that chicken tastes better when it’s freshly cooked. 

Mom Cooking Tip 109

Chocolate makes just about everything taste better, especially chocolate cookies that aren’t quite as chocolaty as you’d hoped.  Start melting a cup of chocolate chips in a small, thick-bottomed pan over low heat and stir until the chips start to lose their shape.  Remove from the heat, stir until all the chocolate has melted and then dip fruit, cookies or marshmallows halfway into the chocolate.  Place on a wax paper-covered plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes until the chocolate has hardened.  Transfer to a serving dish.

                                                           See all my Cooking Tips!

Question for Mom

What is a silicone baking mat, and how would I use one?  Howard M.

Imagine being able to bake cookies and bagels or roast vegetables and meat without having to grease the pan or scrape off encrusted pieces of food.  Just lay the mat onto a bare baking sheet as you would foil or parchment paper.  Do NOT grease the mat.  Then place whatever you want to bake on top of it--even if it's frozen--it and put it in the oven to bake.

I Can Make That Too: Honey Shrimp in Mom’s Kitchen vs. the Restaurant Version

Mom's Honey Shrimp

Until I ate some Honey Shrimp at Pho Show in Redondo Beach, CA, it never occurred to me to combine these two ingredients.  They work surprisingly well together.  And here I thought the best match-up with shrimp was cocktail sauce!

That’s because of my Western Pennsylvania childhood.  The only times I ever had shrimp was at restaurants, and they were always served as Shrimp Cocktail.  How ignorant I was.